On the Edge of Scandal

Attention any boss/employee/coach/athlete/teacher/student trope lovers: On the Edge of Scandal is for you. Bronwyn Perry is the star of the US Women’s Hockey team and is very excited to head to the Snow and Ice Games with her supportive boyfriend at her side. That is, until he becomes an unsupportive jerk and they very publicly part ways. Getting her head back in the game is a challenge that her coach, Ash Levenson, is more than happy to help with. Their age difference may be less than a decade, but that doesn’t mean they feel less scandalous about it!

This book had several points in its favor for me before I cracked the cover. First, I love hockey romances and the subversion of the usual male player character was a delight. Secondly, I have a tender space in my heart for college girls who outgrow their college boyfriends, but don’t realize it before the boy has a chance to be a super douche. Finally, the mentor/mentee thing is one of my secret favorite tropes, when done correctly.

This one is done correctly.

The plot is fairly straightforward and everything you need to know about whether or not you will enjoy this is in the opening paragraph, but I can expand a bit. Bronwyn is easily the backbone of the team; dedicated, hard-working, and talented. She’s dating an egomaniac who is at the games to ‘support her’ but is also clearly furious that he didn’t make the cut of the men’s team and is using his ‘support’ of her to boost his public image. After some particularly egregious behavior, Bronwyn breaks up with him.

Ash, for the record, has been harboring a secret crush on Bronwyn since he chose her for the squad. Not only because she’s beautiful, etc., but because he is super attracted to her hockey talent and thinks she’s an incredible woman. His offer to help her focus post-breakup comes entirely from the coach part of his brain, but pretty soon, the man-who-is-into-her part of his brain takes over.

Luckily for Ash, post-breakup Bronwyn thinks Ash is pretty rad too. She takes him up on his offer of doing anything she needs, and then I started turning the pages so fast I’m not entirely sure what happened next except for a completely engrossing and fabulous story.

If this scratches any of your trope itches, one-click and you won’t regret it.